A Giant Heart
by The Cauldron Simmers
Summary: Zaeviana, Niece to M.McGonagall lived hidden under Hagrid's watchfull eye for 16 years. Finally out of hiding she feels a new connection with him. Meanwhile, her young cousin, Dorian, has his own struggles and prejudices to deal with.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One**_

One odd girl sat upon the front steps in the darkness of the evening. The setting sun left a few hours before the train was due to arrive. She sat there quietly in Hufflepuff colors, sodden to the bone by the thick slow rain which had descended upon the grounds. The battle which had ravaged the castle just two years before had yet to be erased from the walls. Messy patching on the stone left solid smudges on the building in place of the many brick which had once been there.

The grass was ill in spots, and large parts of the forbidden forest were singed.

She thought to herself that the marks should not be removed, as it served as a reminder, which would always be needed.

"Zaeviana, come inside will you, you'll catch cold," Minerva McGonagall chirped from a window several yards away.

"You know I don't get sick_ Professor_," Zaeviana replied with a small smile. Minerva snorted at her and moved back inside. Zaeviana gazed sleepily through the thin curtain of rain.

"Miss McGonagall, you really should get inside." Zaeviana looked up to see the thick form of Rubeus Hagrid standing on the ground in front of the steps, putting him about at her height if she were standing up on that second step.

"C'mon Rubeus, don't act like you don't know me, you're the only one who calls me that," she mused with a bright smile.

"It ain't a secret anymore, I don' see why ya'd want ta be called anythin' else," Rubeus mused thoughtfully, tugging out his pink umbrella and opening it and handing it to her.

"I'm not goin'ta take your wand, even if I am soggy," she mused with a chuckle.

"I trust ye'z," he assured her with a smile and she took the umbrella. She grabbed a handle from her pocket and murmured a drying spell.

The warm sensation filled her body and Hagrid smirked amusedly.

"What?" Zaeviana chirped.

"Ah nothin'," he replied brightly. He walked past her into the building. "An' I ain't forgot, 'bout you not wantin' your aunt's name," he mused with a chortle.

"But I've been Zaeviana Hagrid for sixteen years," she mused thoughtfully. Hagrid stopped in the door and glanced back at her.

"You know that was only fer yer own sake, we 'ent related." He smiled brightly, "I ain't old enough ta have a kid like you," he teased and then made a face at her.

"Oh shove off! Y'er as old as Minerva," she teased.

"Oye, I ain't that old, Giants grow slower than 'umans do," he snorted. Zaeviana snorted.

"I'm telling Minerva!" she chirped, leaping to her feet and skirting around Rubeus' wide girth.

"Like hell you are," he responded with a chuckle and scooped her up. She laughed brightly as he held her around the waist.

"I give I give!" she yelped as she reached for the floor and couldn't quite reach.

"Ya won't say nothin' she's vicious 'bout 'er age." Zaeviana nodded and he let her go.

Standing there in the entrance hall she closed his umbrella and handed it back to him standing there in the door.

"So how old _are _you, in your years."

Rubeus paused thoughtfully. "Well I'm half 'uman, err, part anyway the Giant part dom'nates so, 'round twenty eight…" he mused.

"No way…" Zaeviana murmured.

"You ain't ne'er seen me without me beard 'er straight 'air, aye, I'm a right dashin' fellow," he mused with a wink. Zaeviana smiled. "Go change ya clothes, y'll-"

"Catch cold?"

"G't nagged t'death," he mused with a smirk.

Zaeviana smiled with a chuckle and hugged Rubeus 'round the waist. Rubeus patted her back and kissed the top of her head. "Gw'on."

Zaeviana smiled at him. "Ooh, watch this!" she chirped. She took a step back. "Sweet seventeen," she mused with a wink.

"Y'll need this," Rubeus mused, handing her her own wand. She blinked, and reached into her pocket, a thick stick, but not her wand, her little brother's, who had gotten his wand taken away and Zaeviana had been put in charge of it. It refused to respond to her.

She took her wand from Hagrid and glanced at his umbrella. "It don' listen t' many pe'ple," he smiled warmly. Zaeviana smiled. With that she flicked her wand and with a quiet pop apparated to her bedroom.

A room all her own on school grounds, where she lived all year round. She tossed her wand onto the bedside table and dug through her wardrobe for clean clothes. People would be arriving soon and who would want to see the head girl dressed like a homeless person. Especially since it had come into the open that she was in fact the daughter of a rather unremarkable sister to the legendary Minerva McGonagall.

Zaeviana pulled her hair out of the neck of her shirt and snatched a comb from a shelf and glanced into the mirror atop her bureau. She tugged the comb through her thick auburn hair. She smiled as she pulled her long hair up into a toothed-clip so it draped over her the clip and reached to her shoulder blades. Her muddy-brown eyes shone, those eyes, her height, and her natural knack for animals were what had allowed her to blend into Rubeus' family so simply.

She moved back out of her room, tucking her brother's wand into her left pocket and her own into her right so as not to mix them up again.

She took her leave locking her door with a quick wand-less charm. She grabbed her wand from her packet and apparated to the staircase outside of her mother's office. Harry stared up at her. "Gimme my wand back!" he whined.

"You're only eight!" she teased making a face and skirting around him. "You're not s'posed to _have_ a wand," she teased. She pushed open the door and walked through.

Her little brother whined and stalked after her. "Mum said age doesn't matter!"

"Mum?" Zaeviana mused questioningly.

"_You _call her Minerva… why _do _you do that?" he whined. Zaeviana shrugged.

_'cause she's not our mother you blind little bat_' she thought to herself, knowing he was well aware that Minerva was actually their aunt, but their mother had been killed seven and 3 quarter years prior by angry Death-Eaters shortly after Harry's birth. Who had been named for the mighty baby-who-lived.

"Because I go to school here and I'm not allowed to," she mused, deciding he might as well keep up his charade, it made him happy.

"Ohh… now gimme my wand."

"I don't have it," she lied "Mi-um locked it up when we got back to Hogwarts."

He whined for another few minutes before scampering off to harass someone who could pick locks. Zaeviana rolled her eyes. "He really should have been named after Pettigrew, he's certainly no Harry Potter," she snorted with a chuckle to herself.

She got down stairs to see people filing into the hall.

"Ginny!" she chirped as she spotted the red-head amongst the others.

"Viv!" Ginny yelped back and threw her arms around Zaeviana's neck, having to stand on her tippy-toes to do so.

"How's George?" Zaeviana mused.

"Eww, really? I thought you'd gotten over that…" Ginny teased.

"It's not _my_ fault your brother is obscenely attractive!" Zaeviana teased. Ginny pointed down her throat and make hacking sounds.

"Real classy Weasley," came a slightly nasally voice.

"Sabina, you're a Slytherin through and through," Ginny mused, smirking into her friend's face.

"And you're a love story-sob," she responded.

"You're both hopeless romantics, _and_ purebloods, shut _up_!" Zaeviana chuckled.

"At least neither of us are after some 'war hero'!" Ginny snarked.

"… Who's dating the boy-who-PWNs?" Zaviana teased.

And thus the greeting ritual was over, each of them nudging each other as they moved to sit at the first table they came to, between a Ravenclaw and a Hufflepuff.

Most groups, after the war, had meshed together. There were of course some who still held hard feelings toward other houses, and there was always going to be massive amounts of rivalry between the houses, as points were still to be earned and there was always a winner and a few losers.

"Sabina… look…" Zaeviana whispered. Glancing in the direction Zaeviana indicated she spotted one Vincent Crabbe, held back three times. He'd gone from greasy and slightly smelly to quite the heart throb. He bathed daily, and had taken to smiling which set a shine to his face.

Vincent saw her looking and he ducked his head, averting his gaze.

"He was looking at you," Zaeviana mused brightly.

Sabina rolled her eyes. "Oh come off it Zaeviana, I'm only sixteen, he's what like twenty?"

"Twenty-one, but you'll be seventeen in a few months, it's totally legal, and you _so _like him. I've seen how you walk by, if they weren't attached so well your hips would fly off!" Ginny teased. Sabina popped Ginny in the back of the head, but she was smiling and blushing

"So have you gotten any George-candy yet?" Sabina mused, switching the topic off of herself and onto Zaeviana.

"Psh, no!"

"Oh? 'Cause George says you joined up with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes over the summer, he came home talking about you _all the time_," Ginny crooned.

"So? I needed a summer job and…"

"He was _lonely_!" Sabina crooned a bit too loudly. "He needed a _friend_, and you were there, right?"

"Shove off you bloody twit nothing happened, I was an _employee_, nothing more… damn it."

Ginny and Sabina hooted with laughter.

"QUIET PLEASE." Came the magnified voice of McGonagall. The room settled. The old Sorting hat wriggled to life on the stool up front, it's mouth-rip split open and it sang,

"We've had some heroes

Some tall and some small

Our dear old Hogwarts

Has housed one and all

Students a plenty

Sit listening now

we know they'll succeed

yes, this we vow!

The hat finished brightly and bowed. People applauded, as it stood there really wasn't much he could have sung about, but still, it was a bright happy song and it was good to hear.

"Now, I will call your name and you will step forward and sit on the stool to be sorted. Adorrix, Angella" Minerva called, picking up the hat and motioning for her to sit.

The hall watched eagerly as the sorting began .

Parts of the hall erupted with glee as every person was sorted.

"Snape, Dorian!" Minerva called, a light flashed across her face briefly. Severus Snape's child, his mother was unknown by most, but people cast looks at him and quickly saw Minerva's piercing eyes and quick wand work. People waited eagerly for the decision. One parent the ex-guardian of Slytherin, the other probably of Gryffindor.

The hat sat quietly for quite some time, the tall, sleek form beneath it waiting patiently.

"Hufflepuff!" it called finally, shocking the entire place. The entire crowd whooped merrily to him. Glancing around he instantly moved to Zaeviana's group.

"Head girl?" he inquired. She nodded.

"My dad thought the world of you," he mused brightly, smiling into her face.

"That means a lot," she responded, remembering Severus Snape very well. Dorian sat down in a space between Ginny and Zaeviana when they parted for him. Zaeviana instantly felt a connection with the boy, a sort of brotherly sort of closeness.

Finally the sorting ended and the feast began.

The food was hot and steamy, and filling.

Finally people finished eating. Some hopped up on the sugar of the deserts, others with heavy eyelids from the massive meal.

"Alright first years!" Zaeviana called, getting to her feet and climbing up onto her seat, her voice carried. "Find your house-heads and they'll lead you to your houses. Hufflepuff come over here, Slytherin to your table at the end, and so on! Let's go we ain't got all night! Let's go! C'mon, the rest of you sorry sods know where you're going, c'mon!" she hollered. People moved, sluggishly.

A crowd of Hufflepuffs looked up at Zaeviana with large innocent eyes.

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Wait, why're they looking at you?" Zaeviana jumped down from the seats and looked around at the first years.

"Jaimy and Henry got expelled … _together_," she mused looking pointedly at Ginny.

"Ooh, I see…" she mused, the rumor set to begin.

"Alright kiddies, time to go!" Zaeviana chirped, she moved through the crowd and guided them out the hall door toward the dormitories. Dorian caught up and walked beside her.

"Ya think my parents will be disappointed?"

"That you're in Hufflepuff?"

"Aye."

"Nah, Minerva's fine with it, and she's as close to a mum as I've got," Dorian smiled and nodded. "So that means we're related?" he whispered. Zaeviana blinked in shock.

"So you know?"

"I'm not dumb." Zaeviana laughed.

"Aye, we're related, McGonagall's my aunt," she mused merrily.

Zaeviana escorted them all to the Common room in a class free tower. "This is the Hufflepuff Common room." She mused, coming to a large double door. "Do _NOT_ open the doors and walk through, these doors will send you to a random room in the castle, believe me, you do _not_ want to wander through that door, it can be really embarrassing. The password is "Gillyweed"." She turned to the door. "Gillyweed," she said firmly to the doors. The wall behind them slid to the side and there was a large arc for them to walk through. "The password will change every so often, check the board inside."

She let them all walk past Dorian was the last to go in. "Aren'cha coming?"

"No, I don't sleep in there," she replied. Dorian nodded, shrugged, yawned, and then walked in, letting the door close behind him. Zaeviana turned, and flicked her wand, apparating instantly to the front door. Since McGonagal had become headmistress she had laxed the apparition charm, one could apparate anywhere on the grounds during the day, so long as they had been accepted by Hogwarts itself and were already on the grounds, after dark, one could only apparate within the castle and only until one AM, the official maximum curfew.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

Zaeviana pushed open the front doors and walked out.

"Lumos" she mused, as she moved outside. She strode toward Rubeus's hut. She finally arrived at the door and knocked roughly.

"Come in!" Rubeus called.

"Hey!" Zaeviana chirped.

"Yer still sleepin' 'ere?" he asked brightly.

"Aye," she responded calling into the 'kitchen' where he stood. Fang barked brightly and leapt toward her as she entered. "Hey Fangzy!" she giggled, hugging the dog as he drooled on her.

"Fang, you droolin' mutt, don' ruin 'er robes," Rubeus chirped. "Thirsty?" he asked Zaeviana.

"Sure," she mused brightly.

"What would you like?" he asked.

"Whatever," she responded, flopping down into a wide Rubeus-girthed chair. She tossed her legs over one arm and leaned against the other.

"… Erm.. I think it's water or Firewhiskey…"

"Oh lord, the water over here is _so_ not drinkable." She grunted.

"Ah well, you're legal, Wizards don't specify drinkin' age an' witchery age, so ya can have some if ya'd rather that than water," Rubeus mused.

"I guess some wouldn't hurt," Zaeviana mused with a smile. She turned as Rubeus held a mug out for her to take. It took both hands to hold the large glass mug. "Tha-" she broke off. "You look… different…" she murmured gaping into his face. He chuckled.

His beard and Moustache had been removed, and his long thick hair had been pulled back tightly at the knap of his neck. His face was smaller, slightly thinner and well formed. He muffled a smile at her response.

"Er, aye, me classes 're goin'ta be workin' with a sub-species a dragons an they'll burn me ta bits, I learned that from Norbet," he mused. His voice sounded different too, smoother and less muffled.

"Norberta," Zaeviana mused, looking thoughtfully at his face. Rubeus nodded thoughtfully and downed a mouthful of Firewhiskey. His glass was notably bigger than hers. He sat down across from her in an equally wide seat. Zaeviana watched him from the corner of her eye, admiring his newly discovered features. She took a small sip of her Firewhiskey and felt a warm sensation as it went down her throat, not burning as she would have expected. She took another, slightly larger sip and savored not only the rich vibrant taste but also the sensations it sent down her throat and eventually to the rest of her body. She smiled to herself.

"Aye, so what classes 've you got this year?" Hagrid asked thoughtfully as he tapped the edge of his quickly draining glass.

"Erm, Transfigurations, Advanced Ancient Runes…" she hummed thoughtfully as she searched her mind for her other classes. She took another sip as she thought. "Oh, haha, silly me, Two Care of Magical Creatures classes, and History of Magic. And I'm tutoring a few people in Herbology,Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts." She smiled to him.

"Two a me classes?" he asked with a small smile. "Which ones?"

"Erm, One's for wild creatures, and one's simply the usual class 'cept advanced," she responded. She gulped a mouthful and swirled the cup, watching the remaining quarter of the cup full swirled, sparking as it went.

Rubeus laughed brightly. "You've had a fair amount of that stuff," he mused. "Do you drink often?"

"Nah, ne'er before, " she mused brightly. She downed the last of the mug and then looked at Rubeus hopefully.

"Zaeviana you'll get a horrible hangover…"

"Nahh! I know the spells, my frients get drunk allathatime, I'm se'enteen an you'll keep me fr'm damagin' anythin', please?" she responded. Rubeus chuckled.

"I suppose… you're mum an da 're kind drunks, nicest your Da ever was when he was drunk off his rocker," he mused with a chortle. He grabbed a large giant-sized bottle and refilled her glass. Zaeviana grinned and downed a mouthful.

"Thank'a," she chirped. "y'know, y'should keep the beard gone, ya look…" she paused and then looked thoughtful before grinning. "Han'some," she mused.

"I told you," he chuckled. "I think you'd be best to stay beard free too," he joked. Zaeviana giggled and took another swig.

"This stuff's relly good." She mused quietly. "Are you married?" she inquired.

Rubeus blinked, dishoriented by the question.

"Erm, no?"

"Girlfriend then?"

"Uhh, once… sort 'a, giants don't get many looks like that."

"Hmm…" Zaeviana mused thoughtfully. She looked him over. "Well it's ther' loss," she said matter-of-factly. Rubeus smiled gently.

"Thanks Zaeviana, tha' means a lot comin' from ye'z," Rubeus mused with a smile.

"Now I'm seri'oos, y'er right bangin'!" she piped.

Rubeus laughed from deep in his gut. " I ain't ne'er been call't that 'afore," he snorted. Zaeviana had finished her second mug, dropped it to the table beside her chair and stumbled across to Rubeus' chair.

"Ya are, an' don'cha ne'er let an'one tell ye'z diff'r'n't, m'kayy?" she slurred, honest belief shining in her hazey eyes. Rubeus smiled warmly and nodded. "Good…" she mused, her eyelids sank to half mast as she stood there leaning on his chair. She swallowed and leaned forward and pressed her lips to his smile.

His mind flickered and he paused, shocked. Her lips moved and his followed, not out of intent but because he was dishoriented and confused. Her hand found his cheek and cradled his face as she let her tongue trace the inside of his lips.

As his mind and common sense returned and he was about to push her off she withdrew. Her cheeks were pink and there was a smile on her face. "Thank you Rubeus," she said. He blinked weakly and before he would say anything she tottled across the room clambered into Rubeus' bed, curled up under his blankets and dozed off.

Rubeus stared at her, and touched his face, first his cheek where her soft hand had lain and then his hand was slowly was drawn to his lips where hers had met him. He blushed.

Then he felt slightly ashamed. Not because she'd kissed him, he wasn't attracted to her so it didn't matter much to him. The fact that she had been his first kiss completely disarmed him. He got to his feet and poured out his full third glass of Firewhiskey, he didn't want to clear away the sensation of his frenzied heart and mind. He moved to go to bed and then realized she was lying there. He sighed, and smiled gently at her sleeping form.

Rubeus moved around the house, blowing out the candles and turning down oil lamps all around the house until there was only the dull glow through a window of the moon. He reclined on a small(for Rubeus) plush sofa and yawned, pulling a thin blanket off the back of it and tucked himself in.

"Good night Zaeviana," he mused into the darkness.

"C'mon Zaeviana, time to get up!" Rubeus chirped brightly, pushing open the curtains on a window near her. She groaned and rolled over, yanking to blankets over her head.

"Why is the sun so bri-oww loud…" she groaned.

"Viana, ya need ta get up or y'll be late, ya 'ave me class first and ya won't be missing it," he said firmly.

"No…"

"I warn'd ya 'bout this."

"You did not…"

" I did, and you said you knew anti-hangover spells," he said simply.

"Did I?" she paused. She sat up and looked him in the face. "You didn't scr'w up'a single word in that sen'ence…" she murmbled. He chortled.

"Aye, it's a spell, it won't last more than a few minutes, my umbrella's been acting up a lot lately," he mused thoughtfully.

"Where's my wand…" Zaeviana grunted, searching for it. He grabbed it from the table and handed it to her.

"Repairo," she grunted pointing her wand to her temple. Her eyes lit up a brilliant gold and then cleared entirely. "Now I know why drinking is popular, nobody wants to remember the morning afterwards…" she sighed. "I'm sorry Rubeus, was I rude? Loud? Annoying?"

Rubeus shrugged, deciding if she didn't remember then neither should he. "You're a polite drunk," he mused simply. "But Yer english's 'errible," he teased merrily.

"There's the Rubeus I know," she chuckled brightly as she hopped out of the bed. "wait… was I in your bed?"

"Ya fell asleep ther, I slept on tha sofa," he assured her.

With a flick of her wand the windows were all closed and shaded over. She started to walk to her room, peeling off her clothes from the day before. Rubeus averted his eyes, she'd removed her hangover but had allowed some of the alcohol to trickle back into her mind. Or maybe she wasn't aware of the fact that in most homes, it wouldn't be appropriate for a young woman to bare herself to an older man…. Or any man as it were.

" 'Urry up a'right?" he called and walked out the front door to check on his first class' creature.

Zaeviana glanced over her shoulder and sighed, relieved. She yanked on new clothes, reached under her bed and retrieved Rubeus' Firewhiskey, she walked into the kitchen and switched the Firewhiskey from beneath her bed with the charmed honeysuckle syrup.

"So… what have I accomplished?" she murmured to herself. "I lost 30 silver sickles on some stupid bet on if I could get Hagrid to kiss me. I found out that he's obscenely handsome when he fixes himself up. I found out he has no attraction to me…" she sighed weakly and then looked at herself in a cockeyed mirror. _And that I might be a tiny little bit infatuated with him…_

"Oh bloody hell…" she murmured to herself.

Dorian Snape yawned as he woke up. The sun peaked in his window. A few feet away were 3 other sleeping first year boys.

There was Bryant Porter, muggle born but sharp as a tack. Then there was Agrio Richardson, he had a squib mom, a wizard dad and a human sister. And finally there was Xavier Quail. Dorian didn't know much about him, but he knew he wanted to be around him more than he wanted to be around most people.

Dorian could make Xavier laugh, and that made Dorian especially happy.

"Hey Dorian, you up?" Xavier whispered from across the room. Dorian sat up and smiled at him. "Aye," Dorian chirped.

"That girl you were talkin' to last night… who was she?" he asked. Dorian had to think for a moment.

"Viana? She's my cousin-sorta-kinda," he responded.

"Cool." Xavier said simply. Dorian paused.

"Why?"

"I d'know, isn't she pretty or somethin'?" Xavier asked. Dorian laughed.

"Pshh, I dunno," he mused.

Despite the utter lack of any sense the two broke out laughing.

"You sorry sods, shut up! It's …." Agrio glanced at the clock on the wall and yelped. "We're late!!! We're going to miss breakfast, I need breakfast I-"

"Agrio, shut up, it's 5 in the morning, we don't gotta get up 'till 6:30," Bryant snorted, launching his extra pillow at Agrio's face. "Go back to sleep and you two, shut ya yaps or I'll stuff 'em with unicorn hair!" he snapped and buried his face in his pillow. Agrio looked contented and settled back into his blankets and passed back into sleep.

Xavier waved at Dorian and scooted over in bed. Dorian walked over and clambered into the bed and they reclined on their backs and watched the air above them.

"What's your family like?" Dorian mused quietly.

"I've got a mom, and she's a witch… and a dad… he's … I dunno what he is… I think he's a wizard though," he mused thoughtfully. "They were afraid that I'd end up in Slytherin, I tried to tell them that Slytherins weren't so bad anymore, but they wouldn't listen," he sighed. And then smiled. He turned to Dorian. "My big brother's a Wizard, and he graduated a few years ago from here… he has a boyfriend!" he giggled.

Dorian's eyes got wide. "A boyfriend??" he asked, his mind reeled. "And he's a boy?"

"Mhm, my parents don't like him anymore though, they say he's sick. They were afraid he'd make me sick so they sent him away." Dorian nodded.

"I don't think he was sick," Dorian mused. Xavier looked over at Dorian and smiled brightly.

"Me either," Xavier replied.

"What's your family like?" Xavier asked.

Dorian shrugged. "My dad was Severus Snape, he died in the war, but he was a good guy. He saved a bunch of people." He looked over at Xavier. "And My mom is Minerva McGonagall, the headmistress here. I'm not s'posed to know that a'couse 'cause they're not married like real mums and dads but that's them. And now I've got a cousin, Zaeviana," he mused and grinned.

Xavier smiled. "Your story is cool."

"Thanks," Dorian mused with a smile. There the two of them dozed off for the time they had left until they had to get up.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

"You sorry sods, shut up! It's …." Agrio glanced at the clock on the wall and yelped. "We're late! We're going to miss breakfast, I need breakfast I-"

"Déjà vu," Dorain mumbled as he sat up in Xavier's bed. This time however they actually _were_ running late. They scrambled out of bed and dug for clothing in their trunks, searching desperately for their robes. Without the slightest notion of shyness each boy tugged himself out of his pajamas and tried to pull on his clothes as quickly as possible.

Dorian turned to find Xavier blushing and looking at him. "You okay?" Dorian chirped as he walked by to retrieve his wand from the bedside table.

"Aye, just tired," Xavier replied quickly. He ruffled his red-brown hair leaving it pointed at odd angles in spots. He then snatched up a bottle of mouthwash from a trunk nearby, threw a capful into his mouth, swashed for almost the minute and then spit it forcefully out the window.

"EEK!" came a shocked holler from below in the voice of professor Flitwick. The boys thought this was hysterical and all the way to the great hall they snickered amongst themselves.

As the group strode down the stairs they noted that they were not the only sleepy-eyed students hurrying down to catch some grub.

"Now come on you lot, this is ridiculous, you know when you're supposed to be down here!" Zaeviana chided second and third years firmly at the bottom of the stairs. As first years passed she handed them their schedules. "Alright guys, read 'em and follow 'em, if ya get lost don't worry it happens to the best of us, move along, off to breakfast," she mused brightly.

Beside Zaeviana stood two girls Dorian remembered from the feast the night before. He took his schedule and waved to them, but stuck close to Xavier's side. Dorian was a whole half-head shorter than Xavier.

"What's yer schedual?" Dorian asked.

"Same as yours ya wanker, we're first years, we don't have any electives," Xavier responded with a smile.

"Oh," Dorian mused, and then grinned. "Neat!"

"That 'ent true Xavier, they could be inna dif'r'nt order, ain't no way we'd all fit In the same classes!" Bryant responded. With that the four hastened to the hufflepuff table, which, for the rest of the year would be strictly hufflepuffs. The group compared their schedules.

Dorian

Xavier

Agrio

Bryant

**Breakfast **

**Breakfast**

**Breakfast **

**Breakfast**

Defense Agaisnt the Dark Arts

Defence against the Dark Arts

Transfigurations

Transfigurations

Care of Magical Creatures

Care of Magical Creatures

Charms

Charms

Charms.

Transfigurations

Care of Magical Creatures

Defence against the Dark Arts

**Lunch**

**Lunch**

**Lunch**

**Lunch**

Potions

Potions

Defence against the Dark Arts

Care of Magical Creatures

Herbology

Herbology

Herbology

Herbology

History of Magic

History of magic

Potions

Potions

Transfigurations

Charms

History of Magic

History of Magic

**Dinner**

**Dinner**

**Dinner**

**Dinner**

"Eww, Bryant is in almost all of my classes!" Agrio groaned. He smirked at Bryant and ducked the swing. "Ah cool yer jets I'm just foolin'!" he yelped as he dodged a second fist.

"So?" Bryant chirped in response, taking the chance to thump Agrio in the stomach.

"Oye!"

"That's for snoring," Bryant teased.

"I do not snore!" Agrio whined.

Bryant glanced at Xavier and Dorian. All at once they began to make their best snorting-mucus filled snoring noises.

"Oh shove off!" Agrio barked, smiling good naturedly.

Zaeviana stood at the foot of the stairs handing out scheduals. Looking through the doors she caught a glimpse of Hagrid, talking conversationally with a gorgeous little witch Zaeviana knew as the new Potions' Mistress. She was playing with her hair and fluttering her eyelids. Zaeviana tensed and glared, becoming rough as she handed each first year his or her schedule.

She found that she had handed out the last of them . She walked to her seat in the great hall, hands in pockets, she held her wand in her fist and with a quick twist of the wrist, she sent the witch's goblet tumbling onto her lap.

"AHH!" the witch shrieked, leaping to her feet. She sent her chair sprawling backward and she jolted the table, sending a few plates smashing to the floor. It was then that the woman did the most bizarre thing, she squalked.

"Oi, she's a Veela!" Zaeviana hissed with glee. The woman had quickly regained her composure, but not before her beautiful face had obtained a beak and a distinctly feathery look. Hagrid gaped at her.

For a moment Zaeviana was horrified that Hagrid would be thrilled with the news and sweep the woman off her feet right there. But his pause grew to the point of awkwardness and his speech appeared altered and uneasy. Zaeviana grinned to herself and with that, dug into her pancakes.

Owls clogged the air, though Zaeviana didn't get any letters, and so she quickly made her way out of the room, out the front door and with a wave of her wand she stood outside of Rubeus' hut. She took a seat upon a rock a few feet from his front door and she waited.

It was only a few moments before Rubeus appeared, making his way quite speedily otoward his hut.

"Oi, Viana, what brings you out so early? Breakfast lasts for another fifteen minutes," he mused.

"I ate, and didn't really feel like sitting around," she shrugged in response, admiring him once again.

"Ah, " he mused. He chuckled. "Thanks, Viana," he mused, glancing at her with a quirk in his eyebrow.

"For?"

"Scaring the Veela th's morning," Hagrid chuckled. "I'mma Giant s'er Charm di'n't work, but she was ah'ful determined," he snorted to himself.

"Wha-"

"I saw ye, an I know y'er wandwork, nobody else noticed, s'yer in the clear," he mused. He smirked. "How'd ya know she was a Veela?" he asked.

"I, erm, female intuition," she replied simply, smiling to him. "Hey, you said somethin' about some dragon sub-specie Wha'tis it?" she asked, swooping the conversation in her favor.

Hagrid's face lit up. "Ah, yeah, C'mon, I'll show yez!" he chirped brightly as he scooted around the back of the building. Zaeviana gave a brief sight of relief before stalking after him.

A dozen massive creatures mulled around in the large pen there. Shaded by the forbidden forrest the creatures looked slightly irritated.

"Alinsendia," Hagrid mused. The creatures had two slim black legs in back and a pair of obsidian wings, clawed on the end, and so it stood on it's hind legs and the claws of its wings. Long, muscular tails whipped ferociously about them, their faces were those of dogs, and the fangs of a wolf.

Zaeviana gazed in awe at the ferocious looking beasts. She inched closer to the edge of the pen and bent in toward a particularly irritated looking one. It's head perked and it leveled it's eyes with hers.

"Careful Viana, he's a raunchy pratt that one," Rubeus warned, turning away briefly, but was shocked by what he saw when he turned back. The creature's large k-9 head was pressed into her palm, it's fiery eyes closed as she itched behind it's silken ear.

"Not so mean, just a bit scared, right?" she crooned to it, softly. It let out a quiet grunt.

"Huh, he di'in't take very kindly to me," Rubeus mused, he almost seemed off put.

"She," Zaeviana replied. "This one's a she." Rubeus froze.

"Nah, he- it… but he's so big an'…"

"Most firebreathers are matriarchal, Rubeus, she's big because she's in charge," Zaeviana replied gently. The Alindendia turned it's strong neck to look up at Hagrid and huffed a ploom of smoke.

"I'd say she's a bit offended for being called a male," Zaeviana mused. She didn't look up at him, but instead stepped over the fencing and crouched amongst the Alinsendia. Rubeus gaped at her, as she knelt in the cell with the wing-clipped Alinsendia he saw something he'd never seen in her before.

He saw her mother's strength, her father's cunning and pride, but more than that he saw a woman. A strong, intelligent, vibrant woman. He stared in awe, but only until she looked up, then he swiftly looked away, watching a smaller of the creatures.

"Right, we aught to feed them or they'll get ornarry," he murmured. Zaeviana nodded and followed him. He tugged a great slab of meat out of a large ice-chest, handing it to Zaeviana he reached in again for a second.

Zaeviana moved to the edge of the enclosure and carefully dropped the slab onto a grassy patch of earth. Behind her Rubeus appeared and heaved two massive hunks of meat into the enclosure as well.

"Why'd ya have their wings clipped Rubeus?" Zaeviana asked quietly.

"They came li'e that, s'posed to be from some sort'a preserve, it'll grow back," he assured her. Zaeviana nodded.

By then,students had begun to appear out in front of Rubeus' hut, the quiet murmur of curiosity making them apparent.

"E'ry body back 'ere! C'mon now," Rubeus called, making one of the smaller creatures jump, but not disrupting anyone else. As students approached they were agast at the eating habits of the creatures, ripping into the carcasses and splattering a small Wizard with bloody spittle.

A few of them looked as though they might loose their breakfast. Zaeviana restrained her laughter and moved over amongst the students, rubbing the back of a particularly nausiated looking Ravenclaw.

"These 'ere are Alinsendia…" Rubeus explained, casting a broad arm over toward the enclosure. As Rubeus continued to explain Zaeviana's mind wandered. She found herself stairing off into space and only brought back by Rubeus' voice suggesting someone step in and show the class the Alinsendia weren't dangerous. Without even raising a hand she got to her feet. Rubeus looked greatful, but there was something else too.

Zaeviana moved to the edge of the metalic ring and carefuly stepped over. The class watched in a state of near-awe as the creatures moved quickly to be near her, as a small one pawed at her leg and she lifted it.

"Anybody want to hold him?" Viana asked, smirking as she held the pup out.

A few people snorted. Zaeviana rolled her eyes, rubbed the top of the Alinsendia's head and let it back onto the ground.

"Anybody know why the Ministry's havin' problems wi' the Alinsendia lately?" Rubeus asked. A tall darkhaired boy rose his hand and answered with a simple.

"People like 'em fer pets, right?"

"They're really quite affectionate if you're on their good side, they've got a strong sense of loyalty and chivalry, but they can't be seperated, they're pack animals," Zaeviana cut in. "But essentially yes, it's the pet issue."

"Clever Zaeviana, but I would like to teach me own class," Rubeus mused. Zaeviana ducked out of the pen and into the class, catching his eye as he chuckled.

Class went on, a lazy meander through the topic. As the end of class drew near, Rubeus explained that the class, Advanced NEWT Care of Magical Creatures, would be taking care of the small pack of Alinsendia until they were deemed fit to be released.

"But tha' won't be all we'll be lookin' into, lessons'll continue around the Alinsendia, I got some real good stuff for you all this year!" he chirped. Taking that as an adieu, the class quickly packed up, but as they were making their way toward the castle McGonagall came hastening toward them.

"Students, please, due to some unforeseen circumstances, classes will not be continuing for today, yes, obviously you're all downtrodden," she mused, chuckling at the quiet roll of excitedness.

"What happened?" Zaeviana asked, cutting through the clamour.

"Ah, well it would appear that Peeves and Moaning Myrtle have gone on a rampage… every bathroom in the entire castle's been, well, flooded," she mused, sounding irritated. "And it refuses to be cleaned up," Minerva mused. "It'll be right by tomorrow," she added as the class seemed a bit too excited.

"I ask you all to find yourselves a place and stay there, thank you," she mused and then made her way quickly back to the castle. Zaeviana watched as the class, sudenly with nowhere to be, began to meander toward the lake, and off toward the castle or Greenhouse.

"Where're you headed Zaeviana?" Hagrid asked. Viana was thoughtful for a moment and then shrugged.

"No use going to the castle if it'd be a slippery treck up the stairs… could I maybe hang around here?" she asked, avoiding his eyes by watching the Alinsendia.

"Aye, I think that'd be just fine," Rubeus replied, forcing back a beaming grin in favor of a kindly smile. And glad as he was he felt himself groan internally.

'_Bloody hell Rubeus, she's barely legal…'_ his concience scolded.

'_Yeah, but she _is_ legal_…' the other side bit back.

He pushed both back in favor of deciding upon the issue in the future, though he sincerely doubted it would ever be his choice to make.


	4. Chapter 4

**HEY GUYS!**

I'm sure some of you were assuming I got hit by a bus or something equally as horrific, but I've been crazy busy X3 But I'm back... I think, or at least I'll try to be, no promisses, I hate breaking promises and I did with my promises for updates to my stories. So yeah, from this point on I'll try to update at least one of my stories once every other week or so. It won't always be AGH here, but it should be one of them. Thanks for sticking with me if you have and I understand if ya didn't. X3

So yeah, enjoy... *crosses fingers and hopes you like it*

~Love, Simmers

PS: I'm going to go back and edit older chapters for spelling, punctiation, and formatting 'cause it's bugging me, so yeah, keep an eye out for it X3

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Unable to sit still Viana strode to the edge of the woods, and pressed her palm to a tree. She watched the sway and shift of underbrush therin. Rubeus stopped his filling and watched her.

"Is it really all that dangerous out there?" she asked. She cast a glance over her shoulder and her eyes met Rubeus'.

"If ya don' know what you're doin'," Rubeus replied, he inched to where she stood. "Or usually if you're alone," he replied. He held her shoulder and tugged her back. "You've always been fond of the woods, y'know that?" he mused teasingly. She raised an eyebrow to him. "When you were little, an we had to hide you we put you with the Centaur for a few days e'ery so often. Most 'umans they'd have thrown aside as soon as look at, but you they were fond of, said you 'ad some wild blood in ye, and they'd take ye back with 'em whenever we needed." He explained. Zaeviana smiled.

"Really?" she asked, peaking up through her eye lashes at him. Rubeus nodded, he averted his eyes, returning to watching the woods, avoiding her eyes expertly. She blushed and turned her eyes back too, strangely guilty at how close they stood to one another. "could we go for a walk?" she asked, taking a pointed step beyond the perimeter.

"Viana," he said warningly, catching her arm. "You're a student, you shouldn't be-"

"I'm an adult, I can if I want to," she responded, swiveling to meet him and shifting out of his grasp. She stood in the shade of the Forbidden Forrest and for an instant, as light cut through some trees, almost avoiding her, she looked very much as though she belonged there. She seemed at home with her ankles scuffed by weak underbrush and her eyes deeper and darker, wild there in the shadows. Rubeus' throat clenched as he stared. He nodded, mostly to clear his head. Viana grinned.

"Aye, that you are, I'll get me bow" he mused gently, retreating to his hut and returning moments later, a lump under his jacket where his bow must have been and Fang trotting at his side. Fang swooped to Viana's ankles and she scooted further in, waving for Rubeus to follow.

"Can you introduce me to your spiders?" Viana asked as she skirted deeper, her eyes flashing in the dimness as she watched Rubeus followed.

"Me… where'd you hear somethin' like that?" Rubeus demanded, catching up quickly.

"A little birdie told me," she mused with a smile.

"They ain't, _my_ Spiders," he responded. "I raised one, once. But he died a year 'fore the battle, now they're their own beasts," Rubeus replied. He seemed oddly shaken by the loss of such a creature.

"Oh…" Viana bit her lip. "Sorry then, what was 'is name?" Viana asked quietly. Rubeus looked sideways at her as they ducked around trees, following some invisible trail they'd both traveled a hundred times.

"Aragog," he replied quietly. Viana lain her hand on his arm. He nodded in response.

"Right… So… no spiders, how about the Centaurs?" she asked. Rubeus paused.

"I dunno…" he murmured. Viana stopped and swiveled to look at him.

"You said they liked me though…" Viana mused, an old strain of loss, her parents gone, was yanked hard with the fear that the creatures who might have been affectionate to her would not want to see her again.

"Aye, they were awful fond of you, it's me they may na be fond of," Rubeus responded. It was then that 'Viana recognized his discomfort at entering the Forrest.

"They don't… then why'd you come?" Viana demanded. Her insides clashed, part wanting to drag Hagrid back to the safety of the grounds, the other wanting desperately to keep going and to enjoy the sweet freedom that came with the Forbidden Forrest for her. "Why the hell don't they like you?" she added weakly.

"Ya wanted to see, I couldn'a said no, could I? " he responded "t'was a dispute over Firenze, tha centaur teacher?" he added. As she recognized the real danger angry, resentful, betrayed centaur could pose duty to Rubeus won out and she grabbed his hand.

"Not enough to want you to get squished by a pissy centaur," she replied gently. She tugged him back the way they had come and he followed without struggle.

Rubeus' eyes centered on her hand in his, how small and delicate hers looked around his own. How strong and rough hers felt, the calluses of knowing wildlife. The slim scarred slashes, spell-marks running over her wrists. He said nothing but his heart slammed against his chest. He resolved to ask her later, when she wasn't confused and in a tizzy over what she seemed to want.

She walked out into the open and felt a slight ache as she emerged from the shadows. She resolved to explore without Rubeus, maybe strike a pact with the centaurs to allow him in again, if she could. But she knew she'd go back, one way or another She looked at her room, the window facing parallel to the woods. She would go back soon.

* * *

Dorian had just earned Hufflefuff 25 points for defining 'Curse' and 'Counter- Curse' when the small tidal wave washed past the door, followed by a snickering Peeves hand in hand with a cackling Myrtle.

"What in Merlin's pants…" murmured Xavier from his perch beside Dorian. The issue was quickly explained by a floating Flitwick.

"Ah yes," he tittered. "The ghosts are having a bit of a roust, back to school you know, so, ah, yes, Classes will be canceled for the remainder of the day," he explained brightly. Without onother word the dwarvine professor scuttled off in mid air to alert other students of the predicament.

Dorian and Xavier met eyes and, despite the class-wide bolt for the door, they were the first ones out. They said very little as they slipped around puddles and through shallow bogs of what they hoped was un-used toilet paper.

"Dorian! Xavier! Hey!" grinned Bryant as he intentionally splashed Agrio with a massive wave of grey-green water.

"Gross…" Agrio murmured as he shook his arms in hopes of removing most of it.

Agrio and Bryant stood at one door to the great hall, Dorian and Xavier stood at the other. Between them was the climax of Moaning Myrtle and Peeves' tyrade. The pool seemed as deep as the ceiling was tall. It was uncertain if it was a trick of the eyes or a trick of the wand but nobody seemed willing to test it.

"We'll meet you at the staircase to the commonrooms!" Dorian called.

"'Kay!" Agrio hollered back. In an instant he and Bryant were gone, bound for the stairs.

"How do you reckon we'll get up the stairs?" Xavier asked.

"The better question is, how fast do you think we'll go down?" Dorian mused with a smile. Xavier raised an eyebrow but before he could as Dorian had captured his hand and the two were loping in the direction of the stairs. Dorian stopped twice on the way there, each time taking two shields from a pair of suits of armor working tirelessly to mop up the oceanic spewage.

"Have you ever gone sledding Xavier?" Dorian asked as he handed his companion the second set of shields as they scampered away from the irked suits.

"Er… no?"

"You're gonna love it," Dorian snickered as he turned the corner. Agrio and Bryant took the two in, noted the shields and grinned, putting 2 and 2 together. They distributed the shields, carrying them as they trudged up the stairs.

Agrio stopped three flights up and nearly tumbled back down. By sheer luck Xavier was close enough to yank him to the hand-rail and support him. Agrio shook his head and gaped. "C'mon!" he yelped. He darted sideways off the stairs and into a hallway. "Hurry dammit!" he hollared. The other boys followed, if only to demand what was wrong with him. Bryant, taking up the rear had only just stepped into the hallway when in his wake a massive wave, far larger than the one Xavier and Dorian had witnessed, careened down the stairs. It took out a wall of paintings and washed them all over the railing. The boys gaped, first at the damage and the wave which would surely have killed them, and then at Agrio.

"How…?" Dorian finally managed. Agrio had turned a very pale shade of grey and slumped against a wall. A look the group recognized as the same as when he had jolted awake that morning, shrieking over being late.

"I'm a Trelnway," he admitted, swallowing hard and meeting the closest set of eyes, Bryant.

"The crazy psychic teacher?" Bryant asked.

"But I thought you were a 'Richardson'?" Xavier quirked his head to the side.

"So you see the future?" Dorian asked, his eyes wide with awe.

"Uhh…" Agrio blinked a few times, his head clearly still spinning. "I.. well… yes? To all of you," he replied quietly, his palms pressing into his eyes as he bent to avoid the light which was giving him a severe headache. The three stood quietly, watching him with slight interest. When he finally un wrapped from his fetal ball he got to his feet, grabbed his shield and darted toward the stairs before the others could ask any questions.

The stairs it seemed were none to eager to move, as they would probably cause a massive waterfall if they shifted and so they made for a perfect trek all the way up. When Bryant, Xavier, and Dorian caught up to Agrio they had silently agreed that it wasn't the right place to question him. They glanced down the staircase, and glanced at one another.

"Who's going first?" Bryant murmured quietly.

"It was Dorian's Idea," Agrio whispered.

"So, I'll let somebody enjoy it first," Dorian responded quickly.

"I like being alive," Xavier said bluntly. Dorian swallowed hard, took his shield and shoved off, sitting and holding the arm-holds. He shrieked briefly before rocketing around his first corner and then yowled excitedly. He got the hang of it, but took a wrong turn on a staircase, he ended up zooming into the Great Hall, splashing through the shallows and being submerged hip-high in the chilled water. Moments passed and he dodged as Bryant skittered into the pool beside him, flipping as his shield hitched on something and belly-flopping into the shallow water, dousing Dorian. Agrio came next, gauging himself well enough to jold off of a sodden half-folded table and caught a few feet of air before sluttering into the water.

When Xavier didn't come immediately after Dorian's amusement shattered and he sloshed through the water to the edge and took off out the door.

"Dorian where are you going?" one of the other boys called but Dorian was already way too far off. Something was wrong, very wrong. He shot up the stairs he'd come down minutes before, slipping here and there and dodging globs of slush as he made his way up. He saw the shine of the sodden shield before he spotted Xavier, probably because the shield was a flight lower than Xavier was and Damien nearly tripped over it as it puttered down the steps.

"Xavier!" Dorian managed through his tight throat as he spotted the crumpled boy. "Merlin, you crashed, it's my fault I shouldn't have-" he was sputtering as he got closer. But that wasn't true, he realized as a taller boy reappeared from around a corner in the stairs a few feet from Xavier he hadn't seen. He could just hear him from where he stood. The older boy had his back to Dorian, but it didn't muffle the cold cruelness of the older boy's voice.


End file.
